Serving the Forreston area since 1865
forreston Journal October 3, 2013 Volume 151, Number 23 - $1.00
Pink Rules
Ready to Run
Health Spotlight
FHS volleyball teams Volley for the Cure Monday night. B1
Ogle County Sheriff Michael Harn seeks a second term. A7
The Mt. Morris Senior Center offers flu shots and health information Oct. 11. A13
Lawsuit filed in teachers death By Vinde Wells Editor
Volley for the Cure There was a sea of pink at the Forreston High School Gym Monday night during the Volley for the Cure night. Here the Forreston High School Cheerleaders lead the fans in the school song before the match began. Photo by Chris Johnson
Unique crafts available at festival By Vinde Wells Editor A larger and more diverse Farmers Market and Craft Show will be one of the highlights for visitors at the 43rd Autumn on Parade festival this weekend. Farmers Market coordinator Laury Edlund said 181 vendors, at least 25 more than at previous festivals, will display their wares in booths on the Ogle County Courthouse lawn and the surrounding area in downtown Oregon on Saturday, Oct. 5 and Sunday, Oct.6. “It’s definitely up this year,” Edlund said. “I think
some are looking for a different venue or maybe one closer to home.” She said several of the new vendors told her they were referred by the festival’s veteran crafters. “I’ve had a lot of them tell me ‘I’ve heard you have a good festival and I should be part of it,’” she said. Several new crafters will add variety to the items offered for sale, Edlund said. “We have maple products this year, a woman who makes bras into aprons, and items made from sea shells,” she said. “ Lloyd Bellows will do blacksmith demonstrations as well as
offer his items for sale.” The AOP festival will serve up its traditional fare of fun with some added attractions for 2013. Haunted Harvest is the theme for this year’s event. “Following this year’s theme ‘Haunted Harvest,’ entertainers on Saturday on the courthouse square will include Fred the Vampire and Horrible Harry just to name a few,” said festival president Marseyne Snow. “Frankenstein will also stroll the courthouse lawn on stilts. After all it is a Haunted Harvest.” One of the new events for this year is a post parade show by the South Shore
Drill Team on Sunday. “Because South Shore is always a such a crowd favorite during the Harvest Time Parade we decided to have them stay a bit longer and do a show after the parade is over,” said Snow. “The post parade show will be held on Jefferson Street in front of the Oregon library.” Snow said this year’s parade, held on Sunday at 1 p.m., is shaping up to be one of the largest in recent years. “In addition to the South Shore Drill Team and the Jesse White Tumblers we have booked Turn to A2
Friends reminisce during tour By Vinde Wells Editor
common, were among the more than 100 people who took the tour on a pictureperfect autumn afternoon. The event was sponsored by the Mt. Morris Tourism Committee. The first stop on the tour was Weller’s Woods for a Tennessee Picnic under the spreading oak trees. Hough spied an antique
auto displayed there. “My brother had one just like this,” she said, as she Two longtime friends made headed over for a closer look. the most of a beautiful fall She and Anderson shared day to learn more about local memories of local happenings history and reminisce Sept. and people as they waited 29 at the Mt. Morris Country their turn to take a hayride Living Tour. through the scenic pasture Ginny Hough, 83, and and woods. LaVonne Anderson, 91, Anderson said she was who have grandchildren in enjoying the tour as well as the blue sky and temperature in the mid-70s. “I’ve lived here 68 years, and this is a real adventure for me,” she said. “It’s fun.” Weller’s Woods, located at 6669 W. Oregon Trail Rd., was a well-known place to camp, picnic, and fish along the Pine Creek as far back as 1927, when the first Tennessee Picnic was held there. The Weller family has owned the area since 1846 and over the years allowed neighboring families and Scout groups to utilize their property for recreation. Tennessee immigrants to the area often used the woods Orion and Silas Gallentine, Mt. Morris, check out an for their annual picnics which antique tractor on display Sept. 29 in downtown Mt. were discontinued sometime Morris for the Country Living Tour sponsored by the Mt. in the 1950s, as near as Morris Tourism Committee. Photo by Vinde Wells anyone remembers, said tour
In This Week’s Edition...
Birth, A4 Church Bells, A5 Classifieds, B7-B14 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B6
guide Molly Baker. The Country Living Tour included four stops, all with a story to tell. Participants could ride a bus for a guided tour to each stop or take a Turn to A3
The husband of a Polo High School teacher who died of the injuries she suffered in a vehicle crash in May is suing the Stephenson County Sheriff’s Department. Jason Kamp, Byron, filed a lawsuit Sept. 13 in Stephenson County claiming a dispatcher’s oversight contributed to the death of his wife Sarah, 32, who was pregnant with the couple’s second child when she died. Kamp, represented by Rockford attorney Timothy S. Mahoney, is seeking $4 million in damages for wrongful death. Sarah Kamp died at OSF St. Anthony Medical Center, Rockford, where she was airlifted after a two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Montague and Rock City Roads on the OgleStephenson county line just after 7 a.m. on May 20. At the time of the crash, Illinois State Police said the stop sign was not in place that controls traffic on Montague Road at the intersection with Rock City Road when the crash occurred. Traffic on Rock City Road is not required to stop. A strong storm the night before apparently blew the sign into a nearby field. Police said Kamp was driving westbound on Montague Road and proceeded into the intersection without stopping. Her silver Toyota collided with a white Saturn driven by Barbara Faulkner, 56, Leaf River, who was northbound on Rock City Road. According to the lawsuit, a resident who lives near the intersection called 911 to report the missing sign at 5:51 a.m. The Stephenson County dispatcher who took the call assured the neighbor that the
Sarah Kamp
sign would be taken care of, the document says. The lawsuit alleges that the dispatcher then took another unrelated call and “forgot about” the missing stop sign. “There was a shift change at 6 a.m. and no one was ever alerted that there had been a problem with the stop sign,” the lawsuit says. Because of the storm, the lawsuit goes on to allege, the Stephenson County Highway Department went to work at 6 a.m., an hour earlier than normal, to check for downed signs. “Has the call been transferred to the proper agency in this case, the Stephenson County Highway Department, the highway department would have been available to replace the stop sign at the intersection of Montague and Rock City Road,” the lawsuit says. According to the document, Sarah was on her way to an appointment with her obstetrician in Freeport when the crash occurred. At the time of her death Sarah taught sophomore and senior English at Polo High School, where her husband teaches physics and chemistry. The couple have a twoyear-old son.
Homecoming Week Forreston High School students dressed up for Duck Dynasty/Redneck Day on Tuesday as part of Homecoming Week festivities. Students earned points for their classes in the week long contest by coming to school dressed to match the day’s theme. Pictured, showing their creativity, left to right in the back row are: Markus Edler, Nathan Schneiderman, Nathan Stukenberg, Taylor Scott. Front row: Hailey Ingram, Courtney Lima, Rebecca O’Rourke, and Samantha Lima. Photo by Kathie Conerton
Marriage Licenses, A4 Public Voice, A8 Property Transfers, B4 Sheriff’s Arrests, B4
Social News, A4 Sports, A12, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B5 Weather, A3
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com
Deaths, B3 Sharon Bittinger David H. Martin Scott D. Rudolf